As six million people were in
attendance in the concluding mass of Pope Francis last Jan. 18, streets were
congested by Catholic devotees. Will this be an implication that the Filipino’s
Catholic fate has been renewed by the recent papal visit?
Crowds drew to a flock as early as
5PM the previous day; Jan. 17 from people who came as far as Visayas to hear
mass led by the Pontiff and join what was believed to be the most number of
attendees to be present at a Eucharistic celebration, beating the previous
number of five million at Pope not Saint John Paul II’s mass 20 years earlier
in commemoration of World Youth Day.
Despite the fear of stampede to
happen because of the majority who occupied the Quirino Grandstand and almost
the whole of Luneta, people coordinated with the protocol issued upon by
authorities: no umbrellas, no backpacks.
While in Tacloban on the third day
of his visit, Francis was loved by its people notwithstanding the threat
brought about by Typhoon “Amang” who welcomed him to hear mass. The Pope in
turn delivered a message consoling those who lost family members, friends and
cohorts due to Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name “Haiyan”) and gave
hope to start anew.
Filipinos were keen as to where the
Pope will for next, tracing his move and following the motorcade delivering him
to his next scheduled activity. Security was also on an all-time high to make
sure that the leader of the Catholic Church was to be safe on his second leg of
his Asian tour.
Days before the coming of Francis,
President Noynoy Aquino urged Filipinos to help make the Pontiff’s visit a
success in a nationally televised addressed last Jan. 12, quoting “I ask you,
do you want a tragedy involving the Pope happen in the Philippines?”
Since the coming of the Pope, did it
leave any mark onto people on how they have been encouraged to be more
strengthened in their faith?
“Para sa akin, may kabuluhan naman
yung pagbisita ng Santo Papa dito sa bansa. Dahil siguro sa kanya,
nagbalik-loob ako sa Diyos” (“For me, the Pope’s visit was something. Because
of him, I gave my faith onto God once more.”), said a devotee who has been an
atheist for some time but has decided to give religion another try due to attending
the concluding mass. “Iba yung karanasan ko nung nandoon ako. Kahit siksikan,
tiniis ko iyon para bigyan ulit ng tsansa ang paniniwala ko. Buti na lang
ginawa ko. “(“It was a different experience when I was there. Even if it was
crowded, I endured it to give my belief a second chance. Good thing, I did it,”
she added.
The general public says that
Filipinos, to some extent, chose that their religion has been refurbished by
the Papal visit, even impressing those who are not members of the church, saying
that the incumbent Pope did not deliver his message not for Catholics only, but
for all Filipinos.
